Noon Year's Eve: Sunny Celebration

Find late-night fun, in the middle of the day, in Pasadena.

It's an established and accepted fact that Pasadena has a notable knack for bending time and space, easy-peasy-style.

The space part of the equation is widely known, thanks to the presence of the cosmos-cool Jet Propulsion Laboratory, but the Crown City's time-changing properties are also robust.

Look to The Gamble House, which played Doc Brown's invention-filled abode in "Back to the Future" (and the place where time travel was invented), and look to the Rose Parade, a New Year's tradition which is not actually happening on New Year's Day in 2017 but rather on Monday, Jan. 2 (thanks to the tourney's "never on a Sunday" rule).

Next up on the city's estimable time-folding abilities? The New Year's Eve party at Kidspace Children's Museum, which will welcome 2017 a whole half day before it actually and officially arrives.

That's right, it is a "Noon Year's Eve" bash, one fashioned for families with tots who'll be tucked up in bed by midnight. These popular parties have popped up at children's museums across the country in recent years, and the bevy of to-dos on the celebratory schedule, as well as the all-important balloon drop, promise they'll be Dec. 31 staples for years to come.

What's the plan at Kidspace on the final day of 2016? The shebang lasts from 10 a.m. to 3 o'clock, many balloons will drop promptly at noon, sparkling cider shall be sipped, and "festive New Year's attire" is encouraged.

Also encouraged? Setting out for the daytime soiree early. This is Dec. 31, in Pasadena, near the Rose Bowl, after all, so plan on traffic and hubbub and such.

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What sort of time and/or space will go twisty-turny next in the rosiest city around? Surely something wonderful is just around the float-filled bend for Pasadena, a place where the new year can arrive both 12 hours early and a day late, depending on the party.

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